Castle Hollstein
by sandra.barret
Summary: A hundred years after she was reborn as a vampire, Carmilla is still supporting her mother's 'business' in Styria. After a brutal takeover of Hollis lands, she decides to keep one of her enemies alive, just to spite her brother. Call it a whim, or call it the biggest and perhaps last mistake she'll ever make...
1. Poisoned Arrow

Castle Hollis was less a palace, more a stone fortress that sat half-embedded into the mountain it was formed from. The lichen-covered stones loomed over the fields and forests of the peasantry and villages that made up the ancestral district of House Hollis, until now, thanks to her mother.

Carmilla Karnstein stepped over the still-bleeding corpse of one of the castle's last defenders, its eyes already clouded over with the first signs of decay, not even good enough for a late snack.

"What a waste," she grumbled as she left the brilliant moonlight behind and entered the once-forbidding portcullis to her new castle. She was trailed by an unnecessary contingent of five human bodyguards, each armed with lance and saber, and covered in boiled leather armor.

She didn't bother with either. A hundred years of preternatural strength and healing left her less than interested in the trappings of war, her steel-tipped black boots the only homage she paid to her role in this battle. Her black leather leggings and vest were covered in dust and blood, easily washable. Alas, the white linen blouse she wore under the vest would never be clean again.

One of her brother's undead lackeys slipped out from the shadows as she emerged into the front courtyard. Her bodyguard shifted into a protective phylanx with her in the center. The vampire, dressed in the dark green livery of her brother's contingent, smirked at her human guards as he gave her a weak salute. "The castle is secure."

"Clear your soldiers out," she said, waving him off and continuing toward the massive stone edifice in front of her.

"My lord commander has not..." he began.

He did not complete the thought as her hand shot out and lifted him from the ground. "Your lord commander has declared this castle secure. Your lord commander needs to be gone from here, and take all of you with him." She dropped him like so much refuse and pushed forward across the threshold into the castle proper in front of her guards.

The first thing to assault her inhuman senses was the stench of coagulating blood. Her brother may have had his troops clear the rooms of bodies, but the smell and stains of death remained. "A waste."

It took no effort to find the main audience chamber. Humans were predictable in their layout and need for grandeur, and this room was no exception. The last rays of moonlight filtered through high windows to cast dusty stripes across the stained central carpet that lead up to the dais. A massive, black stone chair dominated the dais, finally, something in this place that she approved of. She approached, placing her booted foot on the first step.

The low whistle would not have been audible to any human, but to Carmilla, it was a song she had heard many times before. Her left hand shot up an instant before the arrow head would have embedded itself in her chest. The smooth shaft and yellow feathers were a work of art, but the silver tip is what caught her attention. She lifted it and sniffed as her guards scrambled behind the stone chair to find the source of the attack. They dragged out a short, pretty young woman and forced her to her knees. Carmilla circled her captive, sniffing the unpleasant odor of garlic oil that the arrowhead had been dipped in.

"Did your research well, sweetheart," she purred, then snapped the arrow shaft between two fingers. "Well, most of it."

The wood door behind the throne creaked open and her brother, the lord commander of the invasion force, slipped in, his short cropped black hair plastered to his head. "Ah, so you found her for us. Thank you my dear sister."

Carmilla glanced back to the woman on the stone floor. What she took initially for a remnant of the Hollis guard taking one last, well-aimed shot would seem to be something more. She squatted down to eye level and stared back into a pair of angry, defiant hazel eyes, but addressed her next statement to her brother. "This is how you secure a castle?"

He stepped around the throne. "One minor glitch." He bent down to pick up the arrow head in a gloved hand and wrinkled his nose. "One with a stinger I see." He tossed it away. "But no match for you, my dear."

As if he wouldn't have been just as happy if the deadly arrow was embedded in her stiffening corpse. She stood up. "And who is she?"

He stroked the top of the woman's head, but she pulled away and his hand dropped to his side. "Just one last corpse in the making."

A corpse, not a plaything for him or one of his lackeys, someone important then. She turned back to the young woman and took in those angry hazel eyes and light brown hair again. "Which Hollis are you, then?" she asked.

The young woman looked away. "Laura."

The daughter of the dead district governor, heir to the castle Carmilla now owned. She took the one last step up to the black stone chair and turned back, knowing she'd see those eyes burning in hatred at her. Just one more thing Carmilla could thank her mother for, one more enemy gathered because she wouldn't, dare not, say no to her mother's machinations. Carmilla locked eyes with Laura Hollis, rightful governor, and sank slowly down into the cold stone throne chair as those eyes tried to burn a hole through her. She wrapped herself in that hatred like a familiar warm blanket, the punishment she accepted for the guilt she felt for her part in this mess.

Her brother grabbed the woman and lifted her in the air. "Time for you to die."

Carmilla shot out of the chair and grabbed his free hand before he could snap the girl's neck. "No."

"No?" He handed the girl to her as if she were a present. "You want the honors?"

Carmilla held Laura at arm's length and lowered her to the floor, not wanting to see the fear she knew would have replaced the anger in those eyes. She waved her guards over and handed Laura to them. "This place must have a dungeon."

"Leaving her alive? Bold choice," said William.

She turned away. "Don't you have someplace else to be?"

He sighed. "Mother's work is never done. Good luck with all this," he said with a wave of his hand. "And word of advice, sister? Don't linger with your new plaything. Nothing emboldens the peasantry like hope, and that little toy you just saved is a tight bundle of hope and trouble if you don't end her life soon."

"Go, William."

He disappeared back into the shadows and back through the door. Carmilla sank back into the stone chair and her own shadows.

 _Hope and trouble_ , she thought as she watched Laura Hollis disappear in a contingent of guards.


	2. The Household Staff

Drudgery set in as Carmilla settled into her familiar role of the hated new overlord. There were bodies to bury, blood-stained carpets to burn, and battlements to repair so someone else didn't decide to take the district out from under her. Not that she cared, but the last time she lost a castle, her mother buried her alive for a decade. No, Carmilla didn't really care what happened to this land, but she cared about her own pain and suffering enough to ensure her mother's spoils of war didn't slip through her fingers.

She sat once again in the black stone chair. Her first commander, Jean-Paul Armitage, a thin, black man she'd turned fifty years earlier, directed a steady stream of household staff for her approval. Not that he hadn't already vetted them all as safe, or at least too scared to cause any real damage. She nodded and waved, one after another, the blacksmith, cooks, cleaning wenches, gardeners, (they had some serious work to do after her brother's vampire troops camped in the castle vegetable patches out of spite). The parade continued, a blur of nameless, faceless humans that Carmilla thought never to see the end of, but she did, finally. The last person, a curly-haired blond woman who stood before her, wringing her hands in her apron, but not scuttling off as the rest did when Carmilla waved them on.

"Was there something else…?" Carmilla asked, not remembering the woman's name.

"Head of household staff," Jean-Paul filled in.

The woman bobbed a short curtsy. "Perry, ma'am, um, Lady, um.."

"Nevermind," said Carmilla. Titles were for those who cared. "Is there some issue you have?"

Perry bobbed again. That could prove to be an annoying habit. "Yes, ma'am. Um. There is one more member of the household you haven't met yet."

Carmilla leaned on one elbow. "And where is she, or he?"

"They." Perry gulped. "LaFontaine. They were the Hollis' Truthsayer."

A truthsayer, and from the sounds of it, two-spirit shifter as well. Rare find, that was. Even rarer to keep alive within her mother's reach. "And where is LaFontaine now?"

Perry crossed her arms. "Where they shouldn't be." She seemed to recall with whom she spoke and bobbed another bow. "Sorry, I mean, they are in the dungeon."

Carmilla glanced at Jean-Paul, "Did we put them there?"

Perry interrupted his answer. "They saw fit to go on their own, no matter what I say. They don't listen sometimes. Most times."

Carmilla hid a smirk behind her pale white hand. "I see." She called over a guard, a vampire, in case this two spirited shape shifter proved difficult. "Bring up our resident truthsayer please, at their convenience, of course."

Perry still stood before her, eyes watching the back of the guard until he disappeared through a side door.

"Something else on your mind?" Carmilla asked.

"No, yes. Well, it might be best if I stayed until LaFontaine shows up. I mean, they can be difficult to, well.."

"Difficult," Carmilla finished for her. "But you think you can control them."

"Oh, no, ma'am. They don't listen to me. Nobody listens to poor sensible Perry."

Carmilla raised an eyebrow at Jean-Paul. "Looks like this hole in the mountain comes with built in entertainment."

He laughed. Perry squeaked, then bobbed, then settled for wringing her apron again until the guard appeared with a short, rather dirty, but safely human-shaped person in tow. LaFontaine stopped next to Perry, who reached out, then dropped her hands with a frightened glance back at Carmilla.

"And you are the Truthsayer?" Carmilla asked.

LaFontaine nodded, then flicked bright red hair out of their eyes. They'd shaved most of their hair, leaving the top crop to drift back down and cover one eye. There'd be no way to say what this one shifted to, and no polite way to ask. Then again, politeness wasn't Carmilla's strong point. "And a shape-shifter."

"Fox," LaFontaine provided without prompting. "Though not a very big one, of course. Still, a fox."

Carmilla gave a bored sigh. "Okay, little red fox. What were you doing in my dungeons?"

"Hollis dungeons," They corrected.

Perry grabbed their grimy linen shirt, "LaFontaine!" she said in a harsh whisper, but LaFontaine brushed her off.

"So long as Laura Hollis lives, this is her castle and district." LaFontaine shrugged. "So it's her dungeon."

"I could fix that easily enough." Carmilla snapped her fingers, "and the little cupcake is gone."

"Won't stop the peasant uprising," LaFontaine added.

Carmilla rolled her eyes. "What peasant uprising?" Her guards would have told her about any problems in the local villages.

"Hasn't started yet, but it will. They always do, you know."

Carmilla let out an exasperated sigh. "Yes, I know. I've stomped down enough of them before." She wasn't sure whether she liked or hated the bluntness of this Truthsayer. "They always have a leader though, to go with their righteous cause."

"Yes."

Carmilla stretched out her legs and crossed her black boots. "And this Hollis is their leader, so again, I can get rid of her, and the peasants go back to the fields where they belong."

"No, they won't."

"LaFontaine!" Perry's urgent squeal was either an attempt to save LaFontaine's life, or shut them up. Carmilla hope it was the former, but tested for the latter.

"So if I keep her alive, the peasants come after me. If I kill her the peasants come after me. Maybe I just kill all the peasants."

Perry paled, LaFontaine just shook their head. "You won't do that. You're mother doesn't invade territory and then waste all the people."

"You know nothing about my mother," Carmilla growled. She waved Jean-Paul forward. "Toss this one in a cell next to Hollis. Put extra boards up so our little red fox doesn't slip away."

"She's already sick you know, the Hollis heir. Her cell floods when it rains." LaFontaine walked away with Jean-Paul as if they were best friends, not someone being led away to eventual death.

Truthsayers. No wonder her mother slit their throats. Aggravating bunch.


	3. Behind Bars

Laura Hollis, heir to the district and useless idiot. She sneezed again. The walls were damp, the floor rushes were damp, even her clothes were damp, and she raged against all of it. Not that she was uncomfortable, but that she was alive to feel uncomfortable when everyone else was dead. Time was immeasurable down here, but from the frequency of meals, she guessed at least she'd been locked up for at least two days. Two days since the Karnstein horde rampaged her father's lands, vampires and their human slaves. Two days since she failed in her only chance at revenge, to put a silver arrow through the heart of the raven-haired vampire who dared approach her father's high seat.

Another sneeze. She felt the heat in her cheeks despite the damp and knew fever was setting in. She pushed limp strands of brown hair off her face and wondered how long before she joined her father in the grave.

"You know, this cell design is really quite ingenious."

LaFontaine. Always inquisitive, no matter the situation. Laura sighed, knowing they would continue the conversation between cells whether she participated or not. "What's ingenious about it? It's wet, and disgusting, and so far underground that they have to keep a torch lit in the hallway day and night."

It sounded like LaFontaine shifted closer to their boarded up door. "That's just it though. I mean the law states a prisoner has to stand fair trial, but it says nothing about the living conditions before that trail. If the prisoner happens to expire beforehand, well, that wraps it all up nicely doesn't it?"

Laura dropped her fevered head into her hands. "Great, I'm stuck here to slowly die. Why not just shoot me with my own arrow and get it over with?"

"I did consider it, cupcake," rasped an almost familiar voice from beyond Laura's door.

The door swung open on creaking hinges just as someone lit a second torch off the first. It took a moment for Laura's eyes to adjust to the brightness. At first all she saw was a dark silhouette, lithe and female, in the doorway. Then the figure stepped in, followed by the torch-bearing guard, and Laura stood up. "Karnstein."

"Carmilla will do. My mother holds the official family title." Carmilla stepped further into the bare cell and looked around. "I like what you've done to the place. Very…aromatic."

"I have you to thank for that," Laura said, clenching her fists.

Carmilla raised her hands. "Hey, this is your dungeon, I'm just making use of it. If you don't like the accommodations, talk to your father."

"I can't, again, thanks to you."

An expression passed across Carmilla's face, something that looked almost like regret. "Yeah, sorry about that, my bad."

"Your bad? You kill my family and just shrug it off as your bad?" Laura was near to screaming now, but that ended in a coughing fit.

Carmilla squinted. "Technically, my brother killed your family. I'm not much for the hack and slash."

Laura bent over, still coughing, when she felt a cool hand on her forehead. The relief felt so good it took her a moment before she realized who's hand it was. She pulled back. "What are you doing?"

"Damn Truthsayers. Always telling the truth." Carmilla stepped back out of the cell and took the torch from her guard. "Take her upstairs. Find a spare bedroom and check it for hidden entrances before you lock her in there with a guard on the door."

"And find a healer. Try not to let the whole village know who it's for, please." The last Laura heard as Carmilla trudged away, taking the light with her, "Let the damned Truthsayer out, too."

Laura learned it was midnight on the third day after the invasion. Under Perry's ministrations and the watchful eye of a thankfully human guard, she was washed, dried, groomed and put to bed in the room used for the less important out of town visitors. Still, Perry's familiar face and the comfort of a warm, soft mattress proved to be her undoing, and she broke down in tears.

Perry sat beside her on the bed, patting her hand. "There, there. It will all get better from here."

"You don't know that," Laura sobbed. "My land is controlled by vampires, I'm a captive in my own house. And that woman could turn me into a meal at any time."

Perry stood up and fretted with her apron. "You're alive. You're not in the dungeon anymore, and neither is LaFontaine. Those are reasons for hope."

"That doesn't mean Karnstein…Carmilla, won't turn around and serve us up for dinner some night anyway."

Perry paced the length of the bed. "That's no way to talk. Things are settling in. Yes, it's not what it used to be, but we're alive, the villagers are alive. Well, most of them."

Laura sat up in bed, clutching her covers. "Have you heard, I mean, what about …"

Perry smiled. "Danny is fine. She and the Summer Militia women were out in the field for one of their rituals. They certainly have a lot of them. Anyway, it was too late when she got back, so she's ordered them all into different safe homes, as daughters, sisters, and spinster help."

"She's safe," Laura said. Danny was, well, she was Danny. Laura wasn't sure what they were to each other, but Danny had kept a watchful eye over her since she came to the district a year ago. She was more than a guard, maybe even more than a friend? Danny would do anything for her. Anything.

"Oh no." She stared at Perry. "What is she planning? Please tell me she's not going to do anything heroic."

Perry glanced at the closed bedroom door. They both knew Carmilla's guard was out there, but the walls were stone, the door thick oak. And their enemies chose this room well. Of all the rooms in the castle, this one had no secret chambers, hide-outs, or bolt holes. No one important enough to be spied on was ever kept in this room. Perry sat back on the edge of the bed and whispered. "It's Danny. She'll do something, but I haven't heard what yet. She's afraid if she moves openly, something bad will happen."

"To me," Laura added. But for once she wasn't sad about that. If it kept Danny safe, then she'd be glad to act as that shield. She couldn't save her father, but maybe she could keep Danny alive. She sneezed.

Perry put a hand on her forehead and tsked. "The healer should be here in the morning. You need to rest."

Laura didn't argue. She felt like a stone was bearing down on her chest and would be glad for a night's sleep. Tomorrow was soon enough to worry about how to stop whatever Danny was planning.

She hoped.


	4. Danny Does a Stupid Thing

The next morning brought a very bright dawn, and a very nervous healer. He was a thin, older man with a few stray wisps of white hair remaining on his otherwise bald head. He was led in by an equally nervous Perry, and followed by a tall hooded figure. The Karnstein guard remained in the doorway.

Laura took it all in and even in her fevered state, she knew what was going on. Her mouth drew to a fine line but she kept quiet for the time being.

The healer approached her and put his bag on the floor. His eyes darted from her, to the tall figure, to the guard at the door. "Um. I'll need to examine her properly. Um."

"Right. Of course." Perry's expression said she didn't like this at all, but she played her part, turning to the guard. "Could you close the door please. The lady will need some privacy for this."

The guard looked more bored than suspicious, which worked in all their favors. He shut the door with a quiet thud.

That was all the prompting Laura needed. "What do you think you are doing?" she hissed.

The tall figure dropped the hood to reveal long straight red hair tied back off her face. Danny, commander of the Summer militia ran to Laura's side and dropped to one knee. "I had to see for myself." She took Laura's hand in hers. "I'm so sorry I wasn't here for you!" She bowed her head until it touched their joined hands.

Laura stroked her hair, then lifted her head back up. "If you

were, you'd be dead now. I'm glad you're not dead." She smiled.

Danny scrambled back to her full height. "We have a plan to get you out of here. The healer will return with one of my Sister guards, hooded like I am. She'll switch places with you, and we'll secret you back out."

"What about your Sister, how will you get her out?" Laura's eyebrows shot up when she realized the full scope of the plan. "No. No, I won't let someone else die in my place. There's been enough of that already."

"You know any one of my Sisters would give her life for you, we all would."

Laura shook her head. "No."

Perry looked relieved. "If that's settled, then, let the healer do his work please."

Danny glowered. "It's not settled."

"Yes, it is." Laura took Danny's hand again to soften her words. "This isn't Hollis land anymore. We're the lucky ones, we're still alive. Danny." She paused, wanting to swallow her words unspoken, but knew she had to do this. "Take your Summer girls and leave here. Go, be safe."

Danny squeezed her hand, then dropped it. "That's not possible." She pulled her hood back on and swept out of the room, startling the guard.

Laura squeezed her eyes shut. Danny was Danny. She'd come up with some other plan, probably more reckless than the first. "Perry, is there anyone left who can keep an eye on her?"

Perry nodded. "LaFontaine can talk to her, but you know Danny."

Yes, she did. Laura sighed as the healer finally got about his business, poking and prodding, until he came up with a disgusting concoction that she had to swallow twice a day until she got better. It remained a mystery what she was getting better for, and why Carmilla was even bothering.

#

For two weeks, Laura saw nothing but the four walls of the guest bedroom and the infrequent visits from Perry and LaFontaine, when they were allowed. Her health returned, and sickness gave way to anger, and eventual boredom. When LaFontaine showed up with lunch, she pounced on them. "Why is she keeping me here?" She never used Carmilla's name.

LaFontaine sank into the one side chair in the room while Laura paced. "Carmilla claims you're a thorn in her brother's side. So long as you are alive, it's a reminder that his failure nearly killed her."

Laura huffed and sat on the edge of the bed. "I doubt that. It wasn't even close."

"Still, it's a weapon she can use against him, and she's the type to collect weapons."

Laura studied her friend. "You've been analyzing them all, haven't you?"

LaFontaine leaned forward. "It's fascinating. They don't act and react the way you would expect a human to."

Of course LaFontaine would turn any situation into a scientific study, given the chance. And what more interesting inquiry than a troop of vampires and their human cohorts. Laura listened to their hypotheses for a good two hours, and in return got a promise that LaFontaine would talk to Carmilla about letting Laura out of her bedroom prison for once.

It took her by surprise two days later when she got a formal invitation to dinner. Perry showed up an hour beforehand to fret over what she would wear and how she would style her hair. Laura couldn't understand what the fuss was about until she stepped into the formal dining room after sunset, surrounded by an extra set of guards, as if she were likely to bolt. She glanced down at her maroon dress and matching house slippers that peeked out below the ankle-length hem. She wouldn't get three strides without tripping, and the corset might 'enhance her assets' as Perry put it, but it left little room for the necessities, like breathing.

The room was exceptionally well-lit, with more torches and candelabras than she ever recalled seeing here. Then again, maybe creatures who walked only in the night liked to brighten it up when they could. She'd have to ask LaFontaine about that one. She saw Perry toward the head of the table, giving direction to an exceptionally tall serving maid, and Laura clenched her jaw. She'd recognize that stance, even with the odd clothing and dyed hair. Danny was up to something again.

Laura looked around at the rest of the room. A small set of soldiers lined one wall, in dark green livery that did not match Carmilla's blue-uniformed guards. She had no idea if they were human or not. Carmilla was close by. When their eyes met, Carmilla stepped around the lanky guard in green, a captain of sorts, and waved him off as she approached Laura. She was dressed in her usual tight black top and pants, with soft house boots instead of the military ones she'd had before. Black hair surrounded a pale face, offset by deep red lips. Laura swallowed and pulled her gaze away from those 'assets' before she could embarrass herself.

"You're looking better," Carmilla purred.

Laura lifted her chin and looked away. "I am a district Governor."

Carmilla snorted, "Anything you say, cupcake. Would the Governor grace us at dinner. My brother's emissary would like to meet you."

Her brother, of course. Carmilla trussed Laura up to parade her in front of her brother's representative to take a remote jab at him. Laura crossed her arms. "Which one of these green clowns is the emissary then?"

"Guess that would be me." The lanky guard Carmilla had been talking to appeared at Laura's elbow. He swept a clumsy bow and stood up smiling. "One clown at your service."

His grin was infectious and dissipated Laura's embarrassment. She returned his bow with a nod.

Carmilla rolled her eyes. "Humans."

He laughed. "I'm Kirsch."

Laura glanced at his livery and took an educated guess. "Welcome to Hollis Castle, Captain Kirsch."

He nudged Carmilla, an act Laura would have thought life-threatening. "You didn't say she was such a hottie."

"Shall we sit?" Carmilla said between clenched teeth.

Laura followed them to the table, wishing she had LaFontaine at her side to help her navigate these undercurrents. The problem of who sat at the head of the table was neatly solved by the lack of any chair there. Not that she had any delusions that they would let her sit in the head seat. She sat in the first seat on one side with Kirsch on her right, and Carmilla sat opposite her.

She didn't even know if vampires consumed anything besides blood. Her answer came soon enough, when the first course was delivered, a creamy kale and sausage soup. The maids placed bowls in front of everyone, human and vampire alike. Laura wasn't even surprised that her personal maid was extra tall, with an extra bad dye job on her hair. "What are you doing?" Laura hissed.

"Serving you," said Danny.

Kirsch leaned her way when Danny left. "Wow, even the servants are hotties," he said with a wide grin.

"So," Carmilla said, putting her spoon down with enough force that Laura thought she saw the spoon bend. "How is my brother?"

Kirsch wiped soup off his chin with a napkin. "Great. There is an uprising east of the Vrey river. I'm hoping he doesn't clear it all up before I can get there."

"Sorry to disappoint you," said Carmilla after sipping what Laura hoped was red wine. "But we'll be pulling out of the lands that side of the Vrey. Nothing left there worth defending."

Kirsch raised his goblet. "Well, here's to west of the Vrey and greener pastures."

 _For now_ , thought Laura. She knew the Karnstein clan seldom stayed in one place for long. Slash their way in, burn through the resources, and then move on to the next conquest. If she lived long enough, the Hollis lands could be hers again, what was left of them. The forests would be harvested for timber and sent down the Vrey to the shipbuilding ports to the south, the livestock driven south for slaughter to feed the overcrowded cities down there, and any crops that grew would be harvested for the Karnstein's human troops. That included the able-bodied people conscripted to join them from her own lands, all for the Karnstein's insatiable appetite for gold.

Laura's appetite fled on those drear thoughts, and she was glad when the final plates were being removed. Danny hovered around her like a moth to a flame, even when Kirsch and one of his fellow guards came to bid her farewell.

He kissed the back of her hand. "Glad my commander didn't waste someone as beautiful as you," he said with a wink. Laura would have been flattered if she wasn't just tired of the whole evening. When he turned away, she thought finally she'd be allowed back into her bedroom cell. Her tired mind barely registered that his companion hadn't turned away with him. Even when she saw the glint of metal emerge from his vest, she didn't realize the obvious threat until there was a shout both from behind and in front of her.

Danny shot out from behind her and pushed her to the floor, but not before a look of shock came over her attacker's face as a long blade protruded from his chest. Kirsch stood behind him, a grim expression on what had been a cheerful face all evening. He pulled his blade free and the attacker dropped to the floor.

Danny stood her ground, nothing in her hands but a metal serving plate, its contents already splattered across the stone floor. She slammed it across Kirsch's blade and rushed into the opening it gave her.

"Hey!" Kirsch shouted, but Danny's attack was short-lived. A blur of black crossed Laura's vision and what was left behind was Danny on the floor in a ball and Kirsch sitting down holding his head between his hands.

Carmilla, that black blur, now stood between Laura and the others. She pulled Kirsch up as if he were a puppet instead of a tall, blooded soldier. "Will sent you here for this," she growled.

"What? No," he said, his meaty hands trying to pull Carmilla's off him, but with no luck. "I swear."

Carmilla dropped him, leaned down, and grabbed for Danny next.

Laura shot forward on instinct. "No, she was just trying to protect me."

Carmilla turned to her. "You've got a lot of charm, cutie, but I don't think even the Hollis kitchen staff is loyal enough to throw themselves in front of a knife meant for you."

The knife! Laura struggled to see past Carmilla. "Is she hurt?"

Carmilla straightened up, surrounded now by at least three of her guards. Her eyes were narrowing. "And just who is she?"

Laura tried to act disinterested. "The maid who served me this evening. I, I don't want anyone else hurt because of me." It was a true statement, even if a stronger wish when it came to Danny.

"A maid." Carmilla hoisted Danny up to her feet and Danny glared at her. "You're maid has an extreme sense of duty."

"Please, don't hurt her," Laura begged.

Danny tried to pull herself free, but Carmilla only chuckled, and Danny's control snapped. "You and your kind are vermin! We will drive you out of here, with or without me!"

Carmilla raised an eyebrow. "The peasant uprising? Is it that time already?"

Laura had no idea what she was talking about, but she let out a breath when Carmilla loosened her grip and Danny dropped down to her knees.

"Lock her in the dungeon," Carmilla ordered. "And him too." The other green liveried soldiers moved closer. "Don't test my patience," she said. "The rest of you are safe, even if you are my brother's. Your commander here is safe as well, so long as he tells me why one of you chose to attack someone in my hall." Her troops far outnumbered the green soldiers now, and their hands left their hilts as they streamed out of the hall, surrounded by Carmilla's guards.

Carmilla turned back to Laura and eyed her up and down. "Looks like you survived your first assassination attempt."

"Second," Laura said, "If you count you and your brother."

"Trust me, cupcake, if either of us actually wanted you dead, you would be."

Laura glared at her. "Then what do you call what just happened? He was your brother's man."

Carmilla sighed. "Just my brother's way of saying hello."

If that was hello, Laura didn't want to know what good-bye was in that family.


	5. Carmilla Gets Angry

Carmilla burst through the open gates and threw her bloody sword at the blacksmith. "It needs sharpening," she growled as she stomped past and straight into the main hall, with Jean-Paul on her heels. Her metal-tipped boots left trails of mud all the way to the stone chair she hated, but she sank down into it anyway.

"Get me Hollis and the Truthsayer. And if the next servant doesn't come in here with a mug of fresh blood, I'll quench my thirst on them!"

Jean-Paul swept her an easy bow and left the room, whispering to the servant who was about to enter, likely saving the wench's life. Not that it mattered, given how many just lost their lives. Stupid, stupid humans.

Carmilla had already downed her first mug and was enjoying her second by the time Jean-Paul returned. Clever bastard likely timed it that way, knowing she was less likely to kill anyone after she'd been satiated. She peeled off her bloodstained vest and tossed it behind the chair for some servant to find and clean. LaFontaine walked in, looking, well, like LaFontaine. Their wardrobe was limited, and all bore the slight stains of some strange chemical or other.

Laura on the other hand, was dressed in distractingly tight tan leggings, house boots to match, and a loose linen blouse. The woman had an unending wardrobe and house servants who didn't think twice about sneaking her new outfits on a regular basis.

"Who, exactly, are the Summer Society, and why exactly, are they throwing themselves onto my pikes to die at an alarming rate?" Carmilla asked.

Laura blanched, but it was LaFontaine who answered. "It's the Summer Battalion actually, and you captured their commander."

Carmilla raised an eyebrow at Laura. "Commander?"

Laura shook her head. "Not me, Danny."

Carmilla sipped from her mug. "The giant maid with an exaggerated sense of loyalty to you?"

A blush crept up Laura's cheeks. Something more than just a battalion commander then. Carmilla brushed that thought aside. "Any ideas on how to stop their antics? Or should I just harvest them all for blood and call it a night?"

Laura's gaze shot from Carmilla's face to the mug in her hand. "You wouldn't."

Carmilla shrugged. "Why not? If they all want to throw their lives away anyway, at least I can get something profitable out of the exchange."

"Is that all that matters to you Karnsteins, gold?"

Carmilla shot forward in the chair. "What matters to me is not wasting lives on hopeless causes, and that's exactly what your Summer bitches are doing. Maybe spend less time stewing in your high morals and think of a way to keep them alive." She left out the fact that they were taking a toll on her limited garrison. And her damned brother was withholding support so long as she kept Laura alive and Kirsch in a cell.

Laura lowered her gaze. "You're right."

Carmilla masked a snort with another sip from her mug. She didn't know which was more enjoyable, the fresh blood, or watching the turmoil on this naive human child's face. "Any ideas?" she drawled.

Laura stood quietly for a time and then came to some decision as she looked back at Carmilla. "Release Danny."

"Sweetheart, I'm not feeling that mellow yet."

Laura raised her hand. "Hear me out. Bring her up here. Keep me at your side, and we convince her that we're working together now." Laura swallowed, then continued. "If she thinks I've agreed to swear allegiance to you in return for my life and my people's lives, she'll stand down."

Naive, naive, naive. "Trouthsayer?" Carmilla ask.

LaFontaine shrugged. "Danny wouldn't believe it."

Carmilla raised her mug in salute to Laura and then took a sip.

"Not without evidence to prove it," LaFontaine added. "You would have to be seen together and outside this hall."

"Doable," Carmilla said.

"And Laura can't stay prisoner in her bedroom," LaFontaine continued. "There's too many house staff that could spread word to Danny and the Summer Batallion."

Carmilla ran one pale finger around the rim of her mug, glancing at Laura. "The price to keep your girlfriend and her peasant army alive is getting steeper and steeper."

Laura flushed. "She's not my girlfriend. And they are people, not some packages with a fixed price to be bought and sold."

"Don't preach at me, cupcake. Where do you think my human staff and troops come from? Peasants like yours, or slaves, who realize we can give them a better life than the mud hovels your kind leaves them to."

Laura looked away. "I tried to convince my father that we needed to return some wealth back to the villages."

"Oh, sweetheart, my heart bleeds." When Laura turned back to her, Carmilla added. "Well, not literally. Anyway, back to your not-girlfriend and her peasant army. I can let her go, convince the rabble you're not my prisoner anymore. But what's in it for me?"

"I don't suppose saving lives would be motivation enough for you," Laura said.

Carmilla just shook her head and waited for whatever was coming next.

It was LaFontaine who provided the real impetus behind the idea. "You could run your operation more smoothly with Laura's help."

Both she and Laura just stared at LaFontaine.

"Well, it's the truth,' they said in return to those stares. "Laura knows more about this land than anyone, where the resources are, what's worth gathering and selling off, what isn't."

"Well, Hollis," Carmilla said. "Is it worth it to you? Buy the lives of your friend and soldiers by helping me bleed this land dry of everything it's worth?"

Laura turned to her and Carmilla added, "Again, not literally on the bleeding… figure of speech."

Laura was quiet for a moment, then she dipped her head, letting her long brown hair cascade to cover her face, and nodded. "Yes, I'll work with you. Just let Danny go."


	6. Pain and Sacrifice

Laura couldn't believe the pain in her chest as she stood at Carmilla's side, waiting for the guards to bring Danny up. She let Perry convince her to wear her long green dress with yellow brocade cuffs and the Hollis family crest stitched across her heart. Carmilla sat to her left in the stone chair, dressed entirely in black, her long black hair loose about her shoulders blending seamlessly into her attire.

Laura's gaze shot to the audience chamber doors as they creaked open.

"So why does a not-girlfriend make your pulse quicken so easily?" Carmilla asked.

Laura shot her a quick look. "You can hear that?" she whispered.

"Clear as a bell." Carmilla smirked. "Hope you are still up for our little charade, because it's showtime." She raised her voice. "Bring the prisoner forward."

Carmilla's favorite guard, Jean-Paul, led Danny forward. Laura felt a lump in her throat to see Danny with bits of straw tangled in her long hair, returned to its natural red. She was doing the right thing, she told herself for the hundredth time. It would save Danny's life and countless others. Still, she felt as if her ancestors' portraits glared down from the walls, judging her and all she was about to do.

Carmilla motioned with her hand and Jean-Paul forced Danny to her knees in front of them. After a pause, she began. "I don't care for liars and spies in my house."

"It's not your house, it's hers." Danny said.

"Danny, please," Laura pleaded.

"Oh the drama of it all," Carmilla said with a sigh. "As I was saying, I don't like spies and you were a spy. Nevertheless, given our new agreement, I've decided to return you to your Summer girls."

Danny looked to Laura in confusion. Laura took a deep breath, swallowed her pride, and charged forward. "I've sworn my support to Carmilla."

"To the Karnsteins?" Danny shouted.

"No," Laura growled, venting her anger for once, "To Carmilla." There were limits to how far Laura would bend and if Carmilla didn't like the distinction, she could end this farce right now. But she didn't, so Laura continued. "Enough people have died for me and my family. I want to end it, now. Please, help me keep the peace."

Danny shook her head. "I don't believe it. She's making you say this."

Laura put her hand on Carmilla's arm, surprised to feel residual warmth through the thin black blouse. "I'm not under any duress. And given the alternatives, this is the right thing to do."

She saw Carmilla glance up at her, but Laura kept her eyes on Danny, waiting for her reaction. It was slow in coming yet took her by surprise.

"She seduced you, didn't she?" Danny growled.

"What?" said Carmilla.

"No!" said Laura, yanking her hand back to her side and definitely not looking at Carmilla. "Danny, no. This is the best way I can protect my people."

"Laura, don't do this," Danny said in a whisper.

Carmilla let out a stream of words that Laura could only assume were swears in another language, then she leaned forward. "Wake up you overgrown carrot. I am Carmilla Karnstein. I've ruled countless different domains in the past 100 years, do you really think I need to coerce or seduce Laura Hollis to get what I want?"

Danny blinked back what might have been tears and lowered her head. "So now what?"

Carmilla leaned back. "Now you leave. Either listen to Laura Hollis or pack up your Summer bitches and get out of this district while you still have your necks in tact."

Laura glowered at Carmilla but got only a slight shrug in return. "What she means is that you are free. I hope you will keep your command and help me."

"How?" Danny asked.

"Rebuild. There's a lot of villagers and farmers with no homes now."

"Thanks to her," Danny growled.

Laura held up a hand. "Thanks to her brother. He's the one who commanded the soldiers, and they are the ones who burned houses along their path. Anyway, there are families that need you, will you help them?"

Danny nodded in silence.

Carmilla lifted her hand and Jean-Paul came forward to cut ties from Danny's wrists. "Go, now." Carmilla said. "You know where the door is."

Danny stood up, rubbing her raw wrists. Laura longed to say something, anything to take the pain out of those eyes, but she stood quiet, playing her part to the fullest and feeling a piece of her soul drift away as Danny walked down the hall alone and out the door.

The silence was broken by the sound of Carmilla clapping. Laura glared at her.

"What?" Carmilla said. "I can appreciate a masterful performance, can't I?"

Laura crossed her arms and continued to glare.

"Fine," said Carmilla. "You should be happy. You freed your girlfriend and saved her troop of crazies."

"She's not my girlfriend," Laura said through clenched teeth.

Carmilla raised one perfect eyebrow. "Cupcake, that was a woman enraged by jealousy when she thought I'd seduced you."

Laura rolled her eyes. "I am not having this conversation. Can I return to my prison bedroom now?"

"Nope." Carmilla stood up. "You kept your part of the bargain, I keep mine. Come up stairs and show me which suite is yours. Perry can have it cleaned and you can move back in before the night is done."

Laura followed Carmilla in a daze, shocked she would be let out of that boring bedroom finally. Her shock deepened when she opened the door to her quarters and found it wasn't empty. She turned to Carmilla. "You didn't take my father's quarters?"

"Too pretentious," Carmilla said, not looking at her. "I'll have my things moved to the adjacent rooms."

Laura crossed her arms, not willing to let this go so easily. "You. Liked this room? My room, with all the windows?"

Carmilla walked to one of those wide windows and Laura wondered if she could see anything besides her own reflection on the darkness outside. "Twice a day, I get a glimpse of something other than the perpetual night. So yeah, I picked the room with the most windows." She turned, paced past Laura, and out the door. "The room will be your's again within the hour."

Laura sat on the edge of her bed, not sure what just happened, or why she felt a twinge of guilt when all she did was get her own rooms back.


	7. Let's Make a Deal

Humans were nothing if not adaptable. Carmilla didn't exactly admire them for that, but she did respect it, and a certain Laura Hollis was at the top of that list of adaptable people. Carmilla leaned on the balcony railing, enjoying the cool night breeze that brought the promise of rain in the air. She heard the soft, unmistakable sound of footsteps behind her. "A little late for you, isn't it, cupcake?"

Laura stepped next to her, resting her hands on the stone railing. "It's not that late."

"It's past midnight." Carmilla shifted to take in Laura's profile, so clearly visible to her with only the glimmer of lamplight spilling out from the open balcony doors. Laura's eyes weren't as red as they'd been in the past, but if the tears had finally stopped, they'd been replaced by something else, something that was keeping her up at night. "Spill it, sweetheart. You didn't come up here just to take in the night air and my sparkling company."

Laura crossed her arms, that small act of defiance becoming so common it was almost endearing. "Maybe I did."

Carmilla raised one eyebrow, and Laura dropped her stance.

"Okay, it's well… The farmsteads." She turned to Carmilla, her gestures coming to life as they always did when she was about to say something important to her. "We need, materials. Wood, and labor. There's just so much to build back up."

"I thought that's what Danny and her crew were for."

"Yes, but half of them are on patrols on the main roads to keep down the banditry. They can't keep the peace, and build, and pay for the wood and materials." Laura took a step closer, her scent becoming just a bit distracting.

"So what do you expect me to do?"

Laura waved her hands. "You have all these guards, yours and your brothers, just sitting around here. Can't they help?"

"One of my brother's guards tried to kill you, remember? Are you sure you want them out in your village?"

"Kirsch could pick the good ones."

That took Carmilla by surprise. "Kirsch? You trust him?"

"LaFontaine does."

Of course, the truthsayer. Why exactly hadn't she locked that one back up? Carmilla pondered Laura's dilemma for a moment. "Bring the tall redhead back tomorrow evening, and we'll talk."

Laura looked at her with a nervous smile. "Um, she's actually here, tonight."

"Don't tell me… at LaFontaine's invitation."

Laura's smiled looked even more nervous. "They do have some good ideas."

A nice cell and a gag. That would take care of Carmilla's truthsayer problem. She glanced at Laura and sighed. "Fine, bring them both up."

"To the audience room?"

"No, the library. And since you are so good at conspiring behind my back…"

Laura's eyes widened. "I'm not conspiring!"

"Conspiring," Carmilla said, again. "Conspire with Jean-Paul to get Kirsch up here as well. I'll meet you there within the hour."

Laura's fading footsteps had a distinct bounce to them as Carmilla returned to gazing out into the darkness. And if her smirk was curving into a smile, well no one was around to see it happen.

An hour later, the library had more face-breathers than it had seen since Carmilla's arrival weeks before. She stepped into a room filled with tension and for once, it wasn't directed at her. Then the tall ginger turned to glare at her. "Well, so much for that," she mumbled.

"Sorry, what did you say?" asked Laura, standing between Kirsch and Danny.

"Nothing," said Carmilla. "Looks like a fight is about to start." She plopped into the first comfortable chair. "Please, don't stop on my account."

Danny waved a hand in her direction. "See, this is what I'm talking about. How can you trust any of them?"

Laura placed a hand on Danny's arm. "Danny, please."

LaFontaine, dressed as usual in a stained top and baggy leggings was the next to take a seat. "It's not really a matter of trust anyway. It's mutual benefit. The Karnsteins want to maximize profit and the clearest path to that is rebuilding the farms and businesses. More goods created means more goods to trade for them."

"Little ginger has a point," said Kirsch, looking none the worse for a few days in the dungeon.

Danny turned on him, pushing against Laura's restraining hand. "And we don't need any more help from you and your Zeta goons."

"Actually, we do," said Laura.

Danny glared over her head at Kirsch. "It was one of his Zetas who tried to kill you, remember?"

Carmilla stretched her legs out and crossed her ankles. "Big ginger has a point."

Danny spun around to glare at her with her mouth hanging open.

"Hey," said Carmilla, "I'm as surprised as you are that we have anything in common." She turned back to Kirsch. "Got any good explanations for that little assassination attempt?"

"I take responsibility," Kirsch said, staring at some vague spot over Carmilla's head. "He was under my command."

Carmilla rolled her eyes. "I wasn't asking for a random act of self-sacrifice. I asked why it happened. Who was that soldier and how long was he under your command?"

"He was new, transfered in just before this mission."

Carmilla nodded. "Figures. And who set up that transfer, my brother?"

Kirsch frowned. "Well, yeah."

"Well, one mystery solved," she said with a sigh.

"I don't understand," said Laura.

"It's pretty simple, creampuff. My brother let you live long enough to take a shot at killing me. When that failed, you became just another loose end to him. Kirsch was sent here to tie up that loose end."

"No way," said Kirsch. "Will wouldn't do that. He sent me here to help you."

"He sent you here to snuff out the last Hollis. And now that you failed, well, there's another messy loose end to tie up, isn't there?"

Kirsch looked around with wide eyes.

Carmilla could almost pity him. Her brother was an expert at treating his devoted humans as disposable tools. "If it makes you feel any better, he probably assumed I would kill you and all your Zetas by now."

Kirsch swallowed hard. "Are you gonna?"

Carmilla tapped one finger on her jaw. "Tempting."

"Carmilla." Laura looked at her with pleading eyes.

"Fine." Carmilla said and sat up straighter. "Any other last-minute additions to your Zetas, Kirsch?"

"No. The rest of us have been together for the past five years."

"And who holds their loyalty, William, or you?"

"Well," he said, delaying.

"Not the time for modesty," she added.

Kirsch nodded. "To me. I'd vouch for any one of my brothers, and they for me."

"Touching," Carmilla said with a sneer. She turned back to Laura. "It's up to you."

"Me?" Laura asked.

"You're the one with a target on your chest, cutie."

"You have one, too."

Carmilla shrugged. "My brother's taken random pot shots at me for a century. I'm used to it. And I'm harder to kill than you are. So you decide whether to trust him and his Zetas or not."

Laura looked up at Kirsch for a moment, then nodded. "I trust him."

Danny took a step closer to her. "Well, I don't, and neither will the rest of the Summers."

"Won't that make for some fun picnics," Carmilla drawled, standing up. "Well, Hollis, looks like you've got your extra labor. In the morning, work up what additional funds you need, but it better be a small number. Let's remember this was a hostile invasion, eh?"

She slipped out of the room with a smirk on her face before the shouting match started up again.


	8. A Midnight Walk

Laura sat on her grey mare, dressed in full riding gear and fur-lined cloak as daylight slowly dwindled in an overcast sky. Danny sat to her right on a chestnut gelding, and Kirsch on her left. She was surrounded by humans, half of which knew what to expect next, and the other half, like her, waited, fidgeting in their saddles as day turned to dusk.

She could still make out the outline of the castle walls in the failing light when the wooden oak doors behind them swung open and a handful of vampires poured out and mounted their horses. Carmilla was the last to arrive. Appearing in the doorway and backlit by the hall lamplight, she seemed more shadow than substance as she walked lightly down the stone steps and swung into the saddle of a large, black stallion.

Carmilla walked her horse up and past Laura. "Hollis," she said with a nod and trotted to the front to lead their band out the castle walls.

Laura frowned at her as she passed. "Did I do something wrong?"

Danny huffed but Kirsch gave her the answer. "It's a vampire thing. They're all grumpy when they first rise. They don't like to admit they need us humans to protect them during the day."

"Their dead bodies you mean," said Danny with a sneer.

Laura ignored her banter. "I never thought of that."

Danny inched closer and leaned over. "Daylight is our best weapon," she whispered.

Laura held up a hand. "No. I gave my word to work together."

"Under duress," Danny said.

"My word."

Carmilla turned in her saddle. "Are you coming, Hollis? This little jaunt was your idea after all."

Laura tapped the sides of her horse with her heels, leading it into a slow trot to catch up to Carmilla, grumpy Carmilla. "Sorry."

Carmilla turned away from her. "You might want to tell the overgrown carrot that vampires have very good hearing."

Laura paled. "She didn't mean anything by it."

Carmilla smirked. "Yes, she did."

"It's just…"

Carmilla let out a harsh laugh. "It's just she wants me dead, just like most humans. I'm used to it, cupcake."

"I don't want you dead," she mumbled.

"Oh?" Carmilla arched one perfect eyebrow. "Is Danny right and you've succumbed to my seductive ways?"

Laura felt her face heat up and clenched her jaw, knowing Carmilla could see her blush even in the dark night. "I'd rather have you here than your brother."

"Now that's high praise." Carmilla turned back to the dark path and kicked her horse into a trot, causing the whole line to speed up.

Laura sighed, not knowing how to deal with a grumpy vampire and kept her mouth shut as they rode on. It was a good idea to visit the bridge Danny and Kirsch worked to rebuild across the Vrey river. Was it her fault that vampires couldn't visit places in the day like humans?

Carmilla reined in her horse over an hour later, until she was riding parallel to Laura at a slower walk. "What's so special about this bridge?"

Laura hid a smile, recognizing the peace offering. "The opposite bank of the Vrey has acres of forest, some of the best wood around here. The old bridge was weak and narrow. Wait until you see the new one they built. It will at least double our lumber production."

"So we did you a favor then, destroying the old one," Carmilla said with a smirk.

"I wouldn't go that far, but, well, you'll see, it's just past the next bend in the road." She could hear the rush of the Vrey already, and added, "well, I guess you already knew that."

Carmilla smiled. "You catch on quick, cutie." She held up a hand and J.P. called a halt to the line of riders. "Let's walk from here. I haven't been out of that castle of yours for ages."

Laura ducked her head, stung by the falseness in those words. "It's not my castle anymore," she whispered.

Carmilla swung off her horse and landed on the ground in one fluid motion. She held out a hand for Laura's reins. "Let's keep up appearances, for the sake of the children, okay?"

Laura glanced up at Danny and nodded. She got off her horse with far less grace it seemed than Carmilla, but so would any human, she told herself. Her legs were stiff. She'd been kept in the castle for far too long as well. Carmilla ordered most of the group to stay with the horses, taking just J.P, Danny, and Kirsch with them for the rest of the walk. Whatever signal Carmilla gave him, J.P. lead the other two ahead, leaving them behind as Carmilla strolled leisurely down the gently sloping road.

"Is that a smile?" Laura asked as she kept pace with Carmilla.

"Would that surprise you, Hollis?"

Before Laura had a chance to respond, Carmilla grabbed her hand and tugged her to the side, off the main road.

"Bet you've never seen this!" Carmilla said as Laura stumbled through the low brush, trying to keep up with an oddly excited vampire.

They broke free of the brush and entered a small glade, with some broad-leaf vine trailing through it and up the surrounding trees. "It's nice," Laura said, not sure why they were there.

"Patience, cupcake."

Carmilla let go of her hand and walked into the middle of the glade. Laura followed, trying to ignore the sound of Danny arguing back on the road, probably fighting to get past J.P and into this secret glade as well.

Moonlight broke through the clouds and transformed the scene in front of Laura. The vine came alive as a series of flowers spread their white petals to capture the glow. "It's beautiful!"

"It's midnight blossom. The flowers only come out at night." Carmilla bent down to pick one of the blossoms. "I could smell it from the road."

The scent surrounded them now, a sweet, gentle smell that filled the air. Carmilla surprised her by placing the picked flower behind Laura's ear and then stepped back to admire her handiwork.

"It suits you," Carmilla said.

Any response Laura had was cut short by Danny's shout from the road. It wasn't loud enough for Laura to make out what she'd said, but Carmilla's expression changed from a smile to a grimace.

"We'd better head back before your girlfriend's head explodes," Carmilla said, turning away.

Laura reached out and took Carmilla's hand. "She is not my girlfriend." It suddenly felt important to make sure Carmilla understood that.

The grimace faded to a slight lift that might even be called a smile. "Still need to get back." She gave Laura's hand a gentle squeeze and then dropped it.

Laura followed her out of the glen and back to the road. She wasn't sure what had happened, but Carmilla seemed just a little less frightening, and maybe, just a little more human than before.


	9. A Stroll in the Woods

Laura awoke with a gasp and bolted upright in the bed. "Oh, that was a mistake," she said, clutching her pounding head. She was in an unfamiliar bed, in an unfamiliar room, wearing an unfamiliar ruff-spun shift. The spinning sensation in her head subsided if she just kept still but still wasn't her priority. Finding out where she was and how she got there topped her to do list, and she swung her bare legs off the bed and stepped onto the cold stone floor.

She stood up as the door to the bedroom creaked open, and a grey haired head poked in. "Please, stay in the bed," said the new arrival, an older woman carrying a tray of bread and watered down ale.

Laura didn't argue, but sank back down on the edge of the bed. "How did I get here?"

The woman put the tray on the bed next to Laura. "She brought you, just before dawn. Says we have to keep you here til she gets back, so don't you go wandering."

Laura closed her eyes and tried to recall what had happened. She remembered the bridge and the explosion and ice cold water. And then something smacked her in the head. She felt along her forehead, expecting a wound or at least a sore lump, but all she felt was a thin line. Maybe she'd dreamt that part? She also remembered a pale face smiling down at her, surrounded by long, black hair.

"The person I'm waiting for, is she…"

"A vampire who will eat us all if you don't stay put."

Laura saw the light streaming in through the bedroom window and tried to stand up again. "It's daytime! Where did she go?" How would Carmilla survive out here?

"Back at dusk she said. You eat, and you wait." The woman backed out of the room.

Laura nibbled on the bread and tried not to worry. Vampires must have some way to protect themselves during the day when they traveled. Carmilla would find someplace to stay safe. That's what she told herself as she watched the noon day sun outside her window. She tried to stay awake and failed.

Hours later, the woman entered the room again with a bundle in her arms. Laura's clothes. "Cleaned as best we could, but blood on white linen don't come out. Best you change now before the sun sets."

"Thank you," Laura said, accepting the clothes.

The woman nodded. "Change and be ready."

Laura got the impression the woman and her husband would be very happy once she left so she dutifully changed back into her riding gear and boots. The front of her linen blouse had a dark stain and Laura touched her forehead again. She must have cut it, but all she could detect was a line that felt like a months old scar.

She folded up the borrowed shift and straightened out the bed, then stepped out to the main cottage room where the husband and wife sat huddled in the failing light. "Where is the closest village?" she asked.

"Ennek. An hour's walk, north through the woods."

The cottage door wasn't attached, but just leaned on the wall frame. Laura stepped outside as day slipped into dusk and the first stars appeared in the eastern sky.

Laura was alone in the approaching darkness, and then she wasn't. Carmilla appeared at her side, her own clothes looking far worse than what Laura wore. Carmilla's gaze traveled up and down Laura with an expression that almost looked like worry.

"Welcome back," Laura said. She raised her hand and gently extracted a dried leaf from Carmilla's disheveled black hair.

Carmilla smirked. "Hope you are up for walking, cupcake, because I don't think I can take another night hauling your aristocratic butt around again."

Laura ducked and smiled, then turned back to the frightened couple. "Thank you for all your help."

She left the cottage, following Carmilla into the darkening forest. She tried to keep quiet, knowing Carmilla woke up grumpy, but curiosity got the better of her.

"You saved me," she said.

Carmilla just grunted and kept walking until Laura reached out and took her hand to slow her down.

"You saved me," she repeated.

Carmilla shrugged. "Don't make me into some big hero, sweetheart. I made a snap decision and acted on it. You were better off to me alive than dead."

Laura shook her head. "You jump off a bridge, save me from drowning, carry me miles, and then spend the day Lord knows where, so you can come back for me." She smiled and squeezed Carmilla's hand gently. "Sounds kind of heroic to me."

"Yeah, well, I didn't say it was one of my smarter decisions."

They walked in silence for a time as the night settled in around them and the terrain steepened. Laura felt more dizzy as they rose in elevation, but kept it to herself until she stumbled on a tree root in the dark.

Carmilla was at her side in an instant, gently helping her up off the ground.

"I'm okay," Laura said, brushing off the dirt.

"No, you're not. You whacked your head pretty hard last night. You probably have a concussion."

Laura felt the scar on her head. "I was bleeding, wasn't I?"

Carmilla nodded, avoiding eye contact with her.

"What," Laura said, "what did you do?"

"You don't want to know."

Laura blanched, holding her hands to her face. "Oh no, did you? Am I a vampire!"

Carmilla laughed so hard and so long she had to sit down in the dirt for a time. "Sorry, cupcake, being turned into a vampire isn't that easy. All I did was give you a little of my blood to stop your bleeding."

Laura took a deep breath and sat down next to Carmilla, relieved to know she was still human. She nudged Carmilla's shoulder. "So, add magical healing to that list of not heroic things you did for me."

Carmilla's lips lifted in a soft smile that made her look so much less evil, Laura wished she could keep that smile on her face.

Carmilla looked up into the dark sky. "We should keep going."

She stood up and offered Laura her hand.

Laura accepted the offered hand and stood as well. She gasped when Carmilla swung her up and cradled her in her arms. "Hey, I said I could walk."

Carmilla shifted her into a more comfortable hold. "I'd like to get back sometime tonight. Not that you're slowing us down, Hollis, but you're slowing us down."

Laura grinned, knowing the excuse was flimsy, but she wrapped her arms around Carmilla's neck. "If you insist."


	10. How About a Hot Bath

Carmilla raced up the path, grinning when Laura's hold tightened across the back of her neck. They had plenty of time to get back to the castle, but Carmilla hadn't survived this long without knowing how to take advantage of a situation. Besides, the tiny human was, well, tiny, and light.

They cleared the forest a few minutes later and the lights of the village were easy beacons to her night vision. She slowed down to stroll as their little path joined a well-traveled road leading into the village center.

Laura squirmed in her arms until she stopped to lower her to the ground.

"Um, thanks," Laura said. "But I should probably walk from here. I'm sure we can get a couple of horses in the village."

Carmilla raised one eyebrow as she started walking again. "Get as in not pay for?"

Laura looked guilty. "I don't carry money around. I'm sure they'll know who I am though."

Carmilla sighed and stuffed a hand into the waistband of her riding pants. She pulled out a small cloth bag and shook out a handful of silver coins. "Should be enough for one horse."

"You could probably just take one. No one here could stop you."

"And that, Hollis, is just how easy it is for us to recruit humans. Treat them even remotely fairly, and they come in droves to get away from you aristocrats."

Laura hung her head and walked in silence. Carmilla reached out and took her hand.

Laura looked up, a tear glistening in her eye that she wiped away with an angry brush. "I would have sent someone back to pay them or return the horse."

Carmilla reached up and stroked her tear-stained cheek. "I think you would have. Maybe that's why I pulled you out of that river and spent a very uncomfortable day buried in my own self-dug grave."

Laura's eyes widened. "Oh! Oh! That's how you stayed out of the sun?"

Carmilla smirked. "I don't naturally smell like dirt and wet leaves. Second thing I do when we get back is take a long bath."

"Second?" Laura asked.

Carmilla frowned. "Yeah, the first thing is kill Kirsch."

Laura stopped, pulling Carmilla to a halt by their joined hands. "I don't think he did it."

"Sweetheart, you are far too trusting. Why wouldn't it have been him? He built the bridge, he could easily have set explosives in the framework."

Laura waved a finger. "But he wouldn't have known we would go visit that bridge. You didn't agree to go until the night before."

Carmilla gently pulled Laura along into a slow walk again. "That gave him an entire day to set it up. Seriously, who else would it have been? Not your love-sick Danny. She wouldn't take that risk with you."

"There's nothing between me and Danny!" Laura said.

"Okay, okay." Carmilla hid her smile.

"Sometimes I think you're just jealous," Laura said with a smirk.

"Weren't we discussing who's trying to kill you?"

"Us," said Laura. "I think it's time we admit maybe someone is after both of us."

They were in the village proper now, and Carmilla sensed the people watching them from closed shutters. She remembered this village on the night they invaded. Insular group, didn't put up any kind of fight. Then again, the only ones capable of fighting were probably pulled in to the castle area to protect the ruling family.

"There's a farrier along the eastern road," Carmilla said. "He'll either have a horse for hire or know who does."

After a short walk and a shorter negotiation, they rode out of the village bareback on the back of a brown quarter horse, easily sturdy enough to take two small women on its back. Carmilla sat in front holding the reins, with Laura behind her, arms wrapped around her waist.

"You know, I could have lead the horse," Laura said. "I am a good rider."

Carmilla smirked. "I like it this way."

Laura leaned in, her breath a whisper against Carmilla's ear. "I bet you do."

Carmilla put her heels to the horse. The sooner they got back to the castle the safer they'd both be. Something was shifting between them, and she wasn't quite sure she was ready for that.

A couple of hours hard ride kept Laura quiet until they rode through the castle portcullis. Word spread before them, and Jean-Paul greeted them at the steps to the main hall.

"Enjoying an evening's ride?" he asked, helping Laura off the horse.

Carmilla swung her leg over and jumped down. "Glad to see you were worried about us."

Jean-Paul gave her a quick bow. "You weren't in any real danger. That was our first clue."

Two figures stepped out into the darkness. Even backlit, Carmilla knew it was Danny and Kirsch. She whipped around Jean-Paul and had Kirsch by the throat and up against the hall's stone outer wall before anyone else had a chance to react.

"Maybe I'll send you back to my brother, piece by piece," she growled.

Laura was at her side, hands holding her arm. "Please, Carmilla. We don't know if he had anything to do with it."

Carmilla felt her resolve slipping and swore softly. How had she let this tiny human get under her skin?

Jean-Paul stepped up on her other side. "We actually do know the culprits, and it wasn't him."

Carmilla let Kirsch go, and he dropped to the ground, gasping, with Danny bent over him. Well that was a change. She stepped around them both and stomped into the hall. "Two hot baths, then a meal, then you tell me what the hell you are talking about." She paused to look back at Jean-Paul. "And don't let that Zeta bastard out of this hall until then."

She needed the dirt out of her hair, and a certain human out of her thoughts for a time.


	11. Not So Friendly Neighbors

Laura hadn't realized how hungry she was until she'd devoured half a plate of roast chicken and vegetables and washed it down with two goblets of watered down wine, orders from Perry who'd fussed and clucked about her head injury. Laura hadn't told her the extent of it, but the concussion wasn't something she could hide well, and Perry's ministrations were a welcome comfort and reminder of home.

Carmilla sat across from her, both of them avoiding the head seat at the table in the main dining hall. Danny, Kirsch, Jean-Paul, and LaFontaine sat around the table as well.

Carmilla put down her goblet. "So why shouldn't I be drinking out of a Kirsch shaped skull mug by now?"

Jean-Paul put a hand on LaFontaine's shoulder. "They were the one to figure most of it out."

"Of course," said Carmilla with a touch of sarcasm.

LaFontaine was blissfully unaware as usual. "I rode out to the bridge this morning with Danny and her Summer guards, and we scoured the area. There was one bomb that hadn't exploded and that's what really helped. You see, there are multiple ways of creating explosive devices, but most people only know one or two ways."

Carmilla sighed. "It's been a long couple of nights, Truthsayer. How about you just skip all the lead up and get to the point where you prove I don't have to rip Kirsch's heart out?"

Kirsch looked uncomfortable next to Danny but kept his mouth shut.

"Well, that's skipping all the interesting stuff," said LaFontaine, "but if you insist. The bomb ingredients and methodology match that of the east Styrians."

Jean-Paul stepped in. "Kirsch's last report from William says it's a combination of local rebellion and an invasion from these east Styrians that are pushing him out of the lands east of the Vrey."

"They've run sporatic raids on our borders for years," Laura said. "I guess they see us weakened now, so are pressing harder."

"And," said Kirsch, finally, "there's no way what they did at the bridge could take out a vampire. I mean it was something a human who didn't know any better would try."

"And you definitely know better," Carmilla said with an edge to her voice that silenced Kirsch again. Carmilla shifted her chair to stare out at the darkness beyond the hall windows, but she turned back when Laura tried to stifle a yawn. It really had been a long day and night.

"Okay, creampuffs," Carmilla said with a sigh. "Kirsch gets to keep his head on his shoulders. For now. You can all leave."

They each stood up to go. Laura waited for the rest to start leaving the hall, then walked around the table and pulled out a chair next to Carmilla.

"Isn't it past your bedtime, cupcake?" Carmilla asked.

Laura reached over and took Carmilla's hand in hers, feeling the coolness of her skin. "What's wrong?"

"Sometimes I get tired of moving." Carmilla stared out toward the open window. "And I guess my rest here isn't going to last much longer."

Laura stroked a thumb across the back of Carmilla's hand. "We can fix the bridge. Or maybe not, and let the bastards stew on the other side of the Vrey. It's not that big a deal."

"You naive little girl," Carmilla said, her voice so soft that her words didn't hurt Laura's pride for once. "Karnsteins don't stick around for the long haul. Raids from the east already means soon enough I'll get the order to pack up and move on. Things here just won't be profitable anymore."

Laura's eyes widened. There was a time she'd have been dancing inside at that news, but it sat in her stomach like lead tonight. "There has to be something we can do. We've worked so hard these past weeks."

"You'd get your lands back sooner than you thought."

"And lose them again to the east Styrians," Laura said.

Carmilla sighed. "Better the devil you know than the devil you don't, eh?"

"No, it's not like that. I mean maybe it was to start, but now…"

"Now?" Carmilla asked, dark eyes locking on to Laura's with such intensity she had to pull away.

Laura stood and walked to the open window. The cool breeze brushed back her hair. "Now, I don't know."

She turned back to find Carmilla standing right behind her. "Geez, could you cough or something when you do that?"

Carmilla shrugged. "Vampires skulk in silence. If I don't practice, I'll get rusty."

Laura crossed her arms, then Carmilla let out a fake cough, and Laura threw up her hands in exasperation. "You're not making this any easier you know."

Carmilla placed a cool hand on Laura's cheek. "If it's not easy, sweetie, maybe you're doing it the wrong way."

Laura's eyes lit up, and a smile spread across her face. "That's it!" She pulled Carmilla into a hug, then grabbed her hand and pulled her along. "Come on."

"Laura?" Carmilla said with a warning tone Laura recognized but ignored.

"Come on," she said. "It's time we started doing it the right way."

Fifteen minutes later, Laura managed to gather Kirsch, Danny, LaFontaine, Jean-Paul, and Perry into the library. Carmilla of course was there, draped across a padded lounge pretending to read a book. Laura was sure a vampire could read by the dim lamplight, but she was equally sure Carmilla was faking it and just waiting for Laura to spill out her scheme.

"Okay so we have two basic problems to solve. We have the Karnsteins on one side…"

"Ah, you have the Karnsteins right here, cupcake," Carmilla interjected.

"Fine, the other Karnsteins. And we have the east Styrians. But, against those two, we have us!"

Danny gave her a sad smile. "Laura, we've had us all along, and it hasn't worked."

Laura shook her head. "No, we haven't. We've had the Hollis resources, and we've had Carmilla's resources, but we haven't joined together."

"Uh, hate to interrupt a cutie on a roll," said Kirsch, but I gotta agree with Danny. We are joined."

"No, no. That was just a fake to keep Danny and the Summers from killing themselves," Laura said.

"I knew it!" Danny shouted.

Laura walked to stand over Carmilla and looked down into slightly confused brown eyes trying to achieve a level of indifference she wasn't buying. "No we weren't, but we could be."

She took Carmilla by the hand and urged her to stand beside her.

"Are you sure about this, Laura?" Carmilla asked.

Laura nodded. "Most definitely." Still holding Carmilla's hand, she turned back to the rest. "Separately, we don't have much hope, but together, us and Zetas and Summers, we're unbeatable. This is our home." She turned back to Carmilla and added softly. "It can be yours as well. Stay here."


	12. Plans, Plans, and More Plans

Carmilla smiled. "I'm not sure you thought this all through, cupcake."

"For once I agree with the bloodsucker," Danny said.

Laura turned an angry glare at Danny. "Don't call her that!"

"It's what I am, Laura. I'm a vampire. A core group of the people loyal to me are vampires. We kill, and we drink the blood of our victims. You can't turn a blind eye to who I am and still expect me to stay."

Laura turned back to Carmilla and took a deep breath. "Yes, I know that. I also know you haven't killed any humans for food since the invasion. And look around you. Most everyone here has killed someone."

Carmilla tucked a loose lock of Laura's brown hair back behind her ear. "You haven't."

Laura ducked her head.

"Um, I haven't either," said Perry, speaking up for the first time. "And I'm not really sure why I'm here."

Laura looked back up, that steely glare back in her eyes that Carmilla so enjoyed seeing. She turned to Perry. "You're here because I need you, and I trust you. I trust all of you. I lived under my father's rule all my life. Yes, I was sheltered, I know that now. But he's gone and so are all his advisers. I'm still sad and angry about that, but it's a fact and I need to move on. We all do." She waved a hand to them all. "You each are my advisers now, or our advisers, if I can convince a certain stubborn vampire that we want her to stay."

Danny raised her hand. "I don't want her to stay. I'd rather take my chances with the east Styrians."

"I don't think your advisers are with you on this one, sweetie," said Carmilla, masking her pain with a weak smirk.

LaFontaine stood up. "I want them to stay."

Carmilla's smirk turned into a smile. "And here I thought I wouldn't get to be your vampire lab rat anymore."

"You are a fascinating group to study," LaFontaine agreed. "But you also have far more experience than the rest of us on how to run a district. And not just run it into the ground. Jean-Paul and I have been talking and there are ways we can make this profitable for the long run, even with the Karnsteins taking a share of it all."

Carmilla raised an eyebrow at her second in command, and he just shrugged. Truthsayers had a way of working themselves into the fabric of things. Probably another reason her mother killed them on sight.

Perry coughed, and spoke up again. "Um, well, as long as their, um, lifestyle choices don't, you know, injure our human population. I agree with LaFontaine."

"Lifestyle choices? That's a unique way of putting it," Carmilla said.

"It won't," said LaFontaine. "Jean-Paul says most of their food comes from standard livestock. In areas where they live with humans, they collect blood from the town butchers."

"Try not to give away all our trade secrets, Jean-Paul," Carmilla said.

"See?" said Laura. "This can work if we all work together." She took Carmilla's hand. "Please, say you'll stay."

Carmilla sighed, knowing she lost this battle before it even started. Something about this tiny human got under her guard. "Fine, I'll stay."

No sooner had the words left her mouth than she found herself engulfed again in Laura's bear hug. Not that she was complaining.

Laura seemed to realize what she was doing and stepped back with flushed cheeks. "Okay, that's settled. Now how do we get rid of the east Styrians?"

That, Carmilla knew, wouldn't be solved by a moving speech and public displays of affection.

That was going to take blood and battle and death.

#

Laura might not be experienced at the art of war, but even she could recognize the obvious benefits of having a combined human-vampire fighting force. With human scouts going out during the day and vampires at night, they managed to track and map the movements of two east Styrian raiding parties like the ones that blew up the bridge. More importantly, they located the main force that was preparing to invade the district.

Danny and Kirsch stood over a hastily sketched map of the Hollis and surrounding districts. The map had most of the main geography as well as roads, villages, and the locations of all known east Styrian forces. And that's where their coalition lost its cohesiveness.

"Their main invading force has to come over the mountain gap," said Danny. "If they veer south, they'll run into the same bridge they destroyed. And then that's another day's march south to get to the ford."

Kirsch shook his head. "The gap is too hard to travel. This side of it is the open quarry iron ore mine. We ruled that one out ourselves when we invaded. The troops are stuck between the mountain side and the quarry edges through most of it, and how do they keep their supply lines going once they are on this side?"

Carmilla sat to the side, swirling what was probably not wine in a goblet, but not adding anything to the debate. Jean-Paul on the other hand had his head buried in old books that LaFontaine was handing him from the library stacks, both trying to dig out some trickle of information that would help them guess where the east Styrians would strike.

Laura dropped her head in her hands. "Why is war so hard?"

"If it was easy, everyone would do it," said Carmilla between sips.

"Everyone is doing it," said Laura. "That's the problem. Are you sure your mother or brother won't send any help?"

Carmilla looked away. "Very sure. If we stop the east Styrians and if we can pull a profit while we're at it, maybe my mother will agree to us staying here longer."

Laura sighed. "That's a lot of ifs."

Carmilla turned back, intense brown eyes capturing Laura again. "We don't have to do this. We can leave. Let my brother and the east Styrians battle it out on their own."

Laura stood up. "No. It's Hollis land, and Karnstein, if you stay. I'm not ready to give it up." She walked over to the battle map and tried to find some way they could get the upper hand. "What if we sent a small force to protect the ford but left the gap open? Wouldn't they take the less defended route? With all the terraces from the mine, we could hide a good size force there and trap them once they are on our side."

Kirsch nodded. "Not bad, Hollis. It might work."

LaFontaine dropped a dusty tome on top of the map. "It will definitely work. Look at this. The mine also has an underground labyrinth of shafts that can hold a series of small strike forces. We could leave our main force here in the forest below the gap, and have the strike force attack them from behind."

There were more details to work out over the days and nights, but the basic strategy held. Jean-Paul would lead the Karnstein humans to the ford on the Vrey and harass the east Styrians from there. Carmilla would split up the vampires and hide in the mine shaft to attack from the rear. That left Danny, the Summers, and any other remaining militia to wait out in the forest while Kirsch took the Zetas over the gap and to attack the main east Styrian force and fake a rout back over the gap, leading them into the Hollis forces.

The only open point of contention remained open even as they mounted up at dusk the night before the battle. Laura was already in her saddle, her bow and quarrel on her back when Carmilla emerged from the hall in brisk angry strides.

"Laura," she growled.

"I'm not staying behind," Laura said.

Danny rode up next to them. "Don't bother, fangface, I tried all day to convince her to stay here."

Carmilla glanced at Danny. "And they say I wake up grumpy. Maybe I should just take you out of our misery once and for all."

"Stop it, both of you." Laura circled her horse to face the main gate. "I have a right to fight for my own lands. We're burning…well… moonlight. Let's go."

Carmilla raised her eyes to the currently moonless night sky but Laura was glad she kept any sarcastic comments to herself. They rode out as a combined troop through the forest road for four hours before they came to where the road split. Hollis forces would head north, while the vampires continued east up the gap road. Kirsch had left that afternoon and if all went to plan, he'd be leading the east Styrians down the gap by dusk tomorrow.

Carmilla led her horse to Laura one last time. She glared at everyone nearby until a circle of isolation surrounded the two of them. She reached over, and Laura met her hand half way and held it, probably tighter than she should.

"Laura."

"I'm fighting."

Carmilla sighed. "Yeah, so you've told me. Just, be careful. Keep that ridiculously tall ex-maid at your side, okay?"

Laura nodded. "Same to you."

Carmilla smirked. "I don't have any amorous carrot-topped non girlfriends coming with me."

Laura rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean."

Carmilla lifted their combined hands and placed a gentle kiss on Laura's fingertips and the cool night got just that bit warmer. She let go and turned her horse without another word, and galloped off after her vampire troop. Laura watched until she could no longer make out Carmilla's dark form against the darker night. "Come back to me," she whispered.


	13. And It Almost Worked

"He's an idiot. He's a damned useless idiot!" Danny stared at the growing dust cloud that had appeared at the top of the mountain gap.

Laura glanced up at the dark gray clouds overhead. "It's too soon, isn't it?"

Danny swung up onto her horse bareback in one graceful leap that Laura could never manage. "Too soon by half a day, yeah. It's going to be one hell of a fight before the fang brigade wakes up to the party."

Danny trotted off, shouting commands at the resting troops the whole way. Laura looked back up the mountain. At best, they had a couple of hours before springing their part of the trap. They'd have to keep the east Styrians engaged on their own for a while, and if they chose a rapid retreat, there would be no vampire shock troops attacking from the rear.

Laura went to her pile of gear and separated what she would take and what she'd leave behind for the battle ahead. She strung her bow and then pulled out each arrow, checking the fletching and points on each before returning them to her quiver. Then she untied the package she'd kept hidden from the others and stared down at the unwrapped sword. The blade itself reflected the dull gray sky above, but the gilded hilt glowed as she wrapped her gloved hand around it.

"Laura, no," said Danny, approaching from behind.

"Laura, yes." She stood up, holding tight to the hilt. "This was my mother's sword."

Danny lowered her gaze. "They say she was a great swordswoman."

Laura swallowed hard. "That's what my father told me. I…I never knew her."

"Still, Laura. You need to stay behind. You are Hollis now."

"And I will defend my own lands. I won't let you and Carmilla and everyone else risk themselves while I sit back here."

Danny put a hand on her shoulder. "They say your mother was stubborn, too. I guess that's where you get it from."

Laura smiled. "I guess." She bent down and pulled the beaten leather scabbard out of the wrappings and slid her mother's sword in it. Then she looked up, with her chin out. "You have better things to do than babysit me. I can prepare myself."

Danny looked back at the now active camp, then turned back to Laura. "You're right. But I'll be back before we form our lines. I won't leave your side when the fighting starts."

Laura watched her for a time as she gave orders to the Summers and pulled together the other remaining Hollis militia. She glanced back up at the approaching cloud and realized she could almost make out shapes now, horses and soldiers. She felt the first blossoming of fear in her chest, and she stomped it down. The last invasion she was left behind, sheltered and useless. This time, she would fight, and she would win.

An hour and a half later, she stood with the other archers, an elongated row of them winding up the quarry path, hidden amongst the discarded piles of stone and rubble. True to her word, Danny was at her side, though Laura tried to convince her to stay with the Summers.

Laura's heart pounded in her chest to the beat of the approaching horse riders. Far fewer mounted Zetas past her vantage point than what had left the day before. Still, a steady stream of them continued down the path as if in full route. Kirsch himself appeared as one of the last riders, shouting orders at his soldiers still on foot.

"He better turn them all around once they hit the woods," Danny growled.

Laura watched him pass, "He will." He had to. Without his Zetas, they would be torn apart before the vampires came out at dusk.

The Zetas passed through, the rear guard harried each step by the enemy so close on their heels Laura wouldn't have known one from the other were it not for differences in uniform. She found herself holding her breath as the first east Styrians passed by. Danny would give the signal when the time was right, but the waiting was worse than anything Laura had felt so far. Were there more of them than Hollis forces?

The time for thoughts and worries ended abruptly when the first hail of arrows flew. Laura pulled back and let her arrow fly. She watched as it hit its mark, a little high. Blood squirted from a young man's neck as he felt to the ground.

And with that, Laura Hollis, heir to the Hollis lands, would-be district governor, took a human life for the first time.

#

"Laura!"

Sounds barely registered, smells, touch, it all disappeared into that one moment, relived again and again in her minds' eye.

"Laura!"

Like a red fountain, life flowed. No, flowed was too smooth, too simple. Life pumped out, in seconds, in seconds, and the young man was dead. All from her action, her arrow. And she thought it was off the mark. She'd aimed for his chest. Was it any better or worse where she'd hit him?

"Damn it, Laura Hollis, get down!"

A hand grabbed her from behind and pulled her roughly to the ground. Gravel dug into her knees and the world came back into focus. Danny's hand pushed her further back.

"You shouldn't be on the battlefield," Danny said, standing over her and firing her own arrows into the fray over the boulder that protected them both.

Laura wanted to react to Danny's lecture, she wanted to prover her wrong. But there was no life in her limbs, no will to charge out and finish what she'd started. She'd killed a man, taken a life with the bow that her left hand still clung to. She lessened her grip, and watched the bow clatter to the ground and slide down the slope.

She had no sense of the time that passed before Danny half-dragged her from the ground. "We need to get back to the horses. Follow me and stay low."

Danny kept hold of her hand as they worked their way around the gravel piles and cut stones from the quarry. Laura kept her eyes on the ground and bent low as the sounds of battle drifted off behind them. All that death and pain, caused by her and her decisions.

The sun hung low in the sky by the time Danny had hunted out Laura's horse, checked its saddle and gear, and rounded up a tidy batch of guards. Then she helped Laura onto her horse and slid her boots into the stirrups. "Head back to the castle."

Laura nodded mutely, feeling numb and stupid. She had four mounted guards around her, all ready to die for her and for what? A leader who couldn't handle the reality of war.

An explosion rumbled in the distance, causing her horse to skitter sideways. It was too far away to be any real threat. "Did we bring munitions?" she asked.

Danny shook her head. "Has to be the east Styrians. We've managed to beat them even without the vampires. Guess they don't like losing."

A figure came running through the woods, dressed in dark blue, a Zeta soldier. He came to a halt, saluted, and looked up at Laura. "It's the tunnels. Someone mined the tunnels!"

At first, his words didn't penetrate Laura's fog of self-pity, but when he added 'rockslide' and 'sealed' to the rest of his report, her brain snapped back into focus. She leaned down from her horse and grabbed his uniform. "The tunnels where the vampires are waiting for dusk?"

He nodded. "Yes, they're sealed inside! Commander Kirsch is asking for extra troops to surround the remaining Styrians and force a surrender so we can dig them out."

Danny was saying something to the soldier but Laura didn't hear it. She dug her heels into the sides of her horse, and it took off at a gallop. Danny was shouting now, but Laura didn't hear that either.

Carmilla! That was all she heard in her head now, Carmilla and the sounds of that explosion. Laura shot out from the woods and up the quarry path, her four guards at her heels. Within moments, the sounds of fighting returned to her but this time she didn't shrink from it. She pulled her mother's sword from the scabbard as the Hollis soldiers in front of her made way for her charging horse.

"To the tunnels!" she shouted as she pelted past. They would follow, just as her guards were following. She was Hollis, and they were hers.

And she was Carmilla's.

The first obvious line of east Styrian foot soldiers formed in front of her but her horse charged through them. Her blade cut down one and then another foolish enough to block her way. Then a stronger force formed in front, forcing her to slow. Her mother's blade, slick with the blood of her enemies, slashed down on one side and then the other. Her horse, trained for battle, reared and kicked as she forced her way through.

Stories would be told later, of how many east Styrians she cut down that day, stories that echoed in both truth and myth, traveling from Hollis lands through the neighboring districts and Styria, about the young heir who wielded a blade they say sang with every clash of steel on steel and shown glimmering red in the setting sun, forever stained from the blood it drank. They called the blade Crimson Death as they called her Badwa, a name she learned the meaning of later.

But that was the future. In the present, she was out of breath, her sword arm ached, and her burst of fury was nearly spent. A force of her own soldiers formed around her. She could see Danny and her forces behind her, and Kirsch and his beyond the line of east Styrians that stood between her and the collapsed mine tunnels. Her actions threatened to split her forces, but she had no choice. "We rally to Captain Kirsch!"

Heels to her horse, she shot off again, up the slope. Her rage gave way to cold, numb precision, yet the east Styrians seemed to part before her like a wave on the bow of a ship. Her force was small, but the track they cut was clear and wide, enemy soldiers crashing into each other to keep out of reach of her crimson blade. Darkness had set, but a full moon peered over the mountain gap to illuminate the field of death.

And there was Kirsch, surrounded by his green liveried soldiers. The question remained - was he friend or foe?


	14. The Stuff of Legends

Laura reined in her horse, not more than two paces from Kirsch and glared at him. "Who is responsible for the tunnel collapse," she said, in a voice far calmer than she felt. Here before her was no peasant infantry, but a trained troop of Karnstein's finest human soldiers. Her small band of Summer soldiers might be a match for them, but was she a match for Kirsch if it came to it?

He turned in his saddle and waved to those behind him. An opening appeared and three east Styrians were pushed to the front. "These are the ones we caught right after the last explosions," Kirsch said. "There could have been more."

Laura dismounted, stained sword held loosely in her gloved hand. She approached the three, knowing they may have caused the death of Carmilla, knowing she would make them pay. She raised her sword.

"Laura." Danny's voice made her pause. "Laura, they are our prisoners."

She turned to face Danny, who'd managed to fight through with the remnants of her battalion. "Carmilla's dead. They did that."

Danny shook her head. "You don't know that. You don't know how far into the tunnels they might have been. They could all still be alive in there."

Laura turned back to the prisoners, pointing her sword at the closest. "You. Dig." She waved her blade at the rubble blocking the tunnel entrance. "All three of you, dig or die."

They moved then, whispering the same word she'd heard throughout her charge up hill. Badwa. She had no idea what it meant, and didn't care as the sounds of battle were approaching again. She turned back to see the east Styrians had regrouped and were inching toward their location.

"Danny, stay here with a handful of your strongest and get that tunnel open." Laura swung up into her saddle. "Kirsch, lend her some soldiers as well." She circled her horse in front of the combined group of Zetas and Summer soldiers. "This battle decides our fate. This battle frees us or enslaves us all. You determine which way our fate lies. As for me, I fight or I die, but I won't submit. Never again."

She turned and pushed her horse forward. The path was narrow, but Kirsch was on her right side and the mountain on her left as they lead the force downhill to meet the east Styrians one last time.

Death and screams surrounded her within moments. Whatever Badwa meant, whatever fear they had of her before, the east Styrians fought against it as they pushed their way slowly up the hill. Laura and her force stood between them and their homeland. They had nowhere else to go but up, and they proved a deadly match. Laura's blade stayed true, cutting down those within reach. She saw Kirsch fighting against multiple opponents further downhill, and she struggled to meet up with him. But every step forward brought more enemy soldiers in her way, until Kirsch and everyone else disappeared from her view.

They charged. Not one or two, but a near dozen, some appearing from behind. And where they could not reach her, they could her horse, and she could hear its screams before she felt the stumbling footfalls. She leapt clear before her horse collapsed, trapping one east Styrian under the dying horse.

She screamed in anger until her voice failed, then charged forward. In her heart, she knew she would die. One small woman carrying her mother's sword, what chance had she against a growing number of enemy soldiers? It didn't matter. Carmilla was gone, her lands would fall to another. But she, she would take as many of those enemy soldiers with her to the grave.

She killed the first two in front of her and turned to parry a blow from behind that never came. A black streak of darkness sped through the surrounding Styrian soldiers, leaving behind a wake of death that even she could barely comprehend. Soldiers dropped, body parts missing before they hit the ground. Laura held her sword in mute silence as the nearest east Styrians died, and those further downhill dropped their weapons and fled back, colliding with those behind them.

The black blur slowed, turning glowing yellow eyes at her from the face of a large black panther. A smokey haze separated them and when it cleared, Laura dropped her sword. "Carmilla!"

She collided with Carmilla, throwing arms around her in a tight, desperate hug. "I thought you were dead."

Carmilla held her tight. "I'm not that easy to get rid of, cupcake."

Laura pulled back, emotions racing through her too fast for her to grasp their meaning. Carmilla was alive, was standing in front of her. All sounds of battle faded as she stared into those brown eyes.

Cool hands cupped her cheeks, and then Carmilla lowered her head and pressed her lips to Laura's. Laura's eyes closed, shutting out the world beyond her, Carmilla, and the rapidly shrinking space between them. It was a moment of magic, a moment of emotion too much for Laura.

Tears traced their tracks down her cheeks, and Carmilla pulled back, a wry smile on her lips. "Well, tears weren't quite the response I was hoping for."

Laura buried her head in Carmilla's neck. "I'm sorry, it's all been too much. I thought you were dead. I went crazy."

Carmilla stroked her hair. "Yeah, I'm sorry I missed that. It's not every day someone scares an entire army single-handedly."

Laura gave Carmilla a light shove, but smiled. "I had help."

"Speaking of which," Carmilla said, pointing.

Laura turned to see Kirsch and Danny approach. She'd lost sight of the battle and was surprised by the lack of screaming.

Kirsch gave them both a casual salute. "The plan worked perfectly."

Carmilla raised one eyebrow, and he amended his statement.

"Well, almost perfectly, now that your vampires are here. Still, we won. The East Styrians surrendered."

"Find a horse." Carmilla took Laura by the hand. "Tiny heroes should always lord it over their captors from the back of a large horse."

Laura sniffed. "Mine was killed."

Carmilla squeezed her hand tighter as one of the Zeta's brought up a large grey mare. She lifted Laura into the saddle and walked by her side as they made their way down the slope to where the prisoners sat, awaiting their fate. As she approached, she heard them murmuring that phrase again.

"What are they saying?" she asked.

"I really am sorry I missed all the fun." Carmilla looked up at her with a surprised expression. "They're calling you Badwa. It's from old German. They think you're possessed by the spirit of their ancient battle goddess."

Laura thought back on the past few hours and cringed. How many of them had she cut down? She didn't want to remember. She got off her horse and walked toward the prisoners.

Carmilla put a hand to her arm. "Uh, you're not the immortal one here, sweetheart."

Laura took Carmilla's hand in her own. "Then you'll just have to make up for napping through all of this and keep me safe."

"Napping?"

Laura walked to the prisoners, but stopped short when the first few bowed their heads to the ground, chanting that name again, amongst some other German words she didn't understand. She went to the first person, an older man with graying hair, and lifted him up. His eyes shone wide in the moonlight, and he mumbled on.

"What's he saying?" she asked.

Carmilla snorted. "Some drivel about goddesses reborn. Looks like you have your own batch of crazed fanatics now, Hollis."

Laura dropped her hands to her sides. "What do I do?"

Carmilla turned her away from the prisoners. "What you do best. You lead."

"I'm not sure I can," she said.

Carmilla waved an arm, taking in the entire battle scene. "You already have. Just do me a favor and try not to vanquish any more enemies for awhile. Maybe take a month or so to settle in as district governor first?"

Laura leaned into her and smiled. "Co-governors, remember?"

Carmilla kissed the top of her head. "Whatever you say, cupcake."

Peace of course would never last, but the acts of that night lived on in the memory of those who saw, and expanded into legend for those who had not experienced it. It wasn't enough for permanent peace. The Crimson Blade would rise again, as would the Badwa of Hollis and her vampire lover. Still, that was the future. The present was all that Laura thought of as she turned her back on her newfound fanatics and let Carmilla half-carry her back up hill to a makeshift camp. Tomorrow would be soon enough to plan their trip back home. For tonight, she was content to rest in Carmilla's arms, stare up at the starry night sky, and dream of the future they would build together.


End file.
